Theo Walcott Must Change His One-Track Tune Before It's Too Late

Illustrious former French international and current television commentator Bixente Lizarazu delivered a biting criticism of current Les Bleus winger Franck Ribery back in 2010, saying that the scarred man from Boulogne-sur-Mer would become irrelevant with age.

From Lizarazu's perspective, Ribery's game was predicated in his blistering pace. Take that asset away from him, and you effectively canceled him out of the match.

An out-and-out winger, (he enjoys the left, as he made absolutely certain to former coach Raymond Domenech realized) Ribery is an excellent finisher and possesses an intuition of when to use trickery to push past defenders.

Yet there is no doubt that the Bayern Munich man is at his best collecting the ball just outside the final third, and running at defenders, picking up momentum like a freight train.

Does any of this sound familiar to Arsenal fans?

Theo Walcott was brought into the Arsenal fold back in 2006 from Southampton for a cool £12 million. A surprise inclusion for that year's World Cup, when England boss Sven Goran-Eriksson elected to take the 17-year-old prodigy instead of a number of older, more experienced options, Walcott was considered one of the bright hopes in the Three Lions' future.

All that seems so long ago now. It's difficult to believe that he is still only 22, and on the upswing of his career. Call it Cesc Fabregas-ism. You feel the latter should be retired by now, so long has he has been playing top-level football (he's still only 24.)

But enough of opening old Arsenal wounds, which any Fabregas mention is bound to do.

There have been moments where Walcott seemed certain to verify all those glowing accounts of his potential. The superb 80-yard run against Liverpool in the '08 Champions League quarterfinals. The hat trick against Croatia later that same year. A scintillating start to 2010-11, when Walcott looked clinical in front of goal on numerous occasions (that Blackpool game at the Emirates, when Walcott notched another hat-trick—his first for Arsenal—was one of his best during his Gunners tenure.)

Despite those brief flashes, Walcott has met rampant criticism for his play.

There have been scathing appraisals of the winger's lack of a second option should running like a jackrabbit along the pitch fail to work. His footballing IQ has been questioned on more than one occasion.

It's harsh, but that's professional football. Those things wouldn't be said if there wasn't a grain of truth in them.

In his sixth season with Arsenal, Theo still looks like the same player he was back in 2006—a pacy winger who is at his best when played in behind defenses and allowed to use his abundant reserves of speed to mass effect.

Too often he has looked bereft of ideas against more experienced sides, who bring an extra defender over immediately once Walcott is on the ball. With his outlets cut out, he becomes largely ineffective, unable to adapt to the play.

To Walcott's credit, he appears to have diagnosed this problem, and wants to correct it. Of course he could remain as is, and become the next Aaron Lennon of English football. A delightful prospect, that.

But not.

Instead, he has pressed Arsene Wenger to use him as a central striker alongside Robin van Persie, where he feels he could transform his game like Thierry Henry once did upon arrival in North London from Juventus, where he was—you guessed it (oh, wait maybe you didn't)—a winger with a stagnating career.

Henry was much more adept technically than Walcott is at present, but both were more than proficient at collecting the ball and running at and around opposing defenses. Whether Walcott changes his game like Henry remains to be seen.

Walcott did play the ball that set up van Persie's goal against Borussia Dortmund Tuesday, and he has looked much more active in seeking to build play in recent seasons, as opposed to just getting the ball and running with it.

Perhaps this is due to his Arsenal-ization. So much time spent around such highly technical players must wear off on him at some point.

But it's most likely down to personal reflection. He must have taken a brief glance down the road of his career, and realized that unless he changes his game in a significant way, he will be in danger of becoming irrelevant once age consumes his speed.

Lizarazu might offer similar opinions of Ribery and Walcott at the moment. It's up to both to change the prognosis.

We'll concentrate on Walcott in this one, who must take the criticism leveled against him and drop-kick it into the Thames.

It must be done, and it must be done quickly. Walcott is needed more than ever this season in an Arsenal side currently struggling for goals and looking for game-changers to step up and be present.

Hopefully he can answer the call.